Publisher's Synopsis
This text gathers together most of what is known about the last of the unreformed and unregenerated cardinals of the 16th century, Innocenzo Ciocchi del Monte, the adopted cardinal-nephew of Pope Julius III. At the same time, it contains a wealth of material, some of it never explored before, on the del Monte family in general, and Julius III in particular. It also explores in detail the dynastic connections of the del Monte and illuminates some of the leading parts played by the family in the case of the divorce of Henry VIII, the rise of the Jesuits and in the perils of the Order of St John in that time.
